Monday, July 29, 2013

The Uintas

I'm always game to go on an adventure! My friend, Emily's friends always go on a few backpacking trips each year. Luckily enough, she let me join in with them! It was such a great trip! I was in heaven  (except for the fact that it was a girls' trip and Cortney wasn't there with me)! I love backpacking. I love the mountains. I love adventure! This trip did not disappoint! We drove to the trailhead on Friday and got going. 

Denise, Heather, Me, Emily, Angie (these girls are amazing!)


It was very beautiful! 

 Stopping for a little rest...





 Our destination was 8 miles in - Carolyn Lake. It was a tough hikey-poo, but was totally worth it when we arrived! 

 Our campground was perfect! 

It was so nice to set-up camp, relax, eat dinner, and have a fire! The next day (which was rainy off and on) we hiked over Rocky Sea Pass to Four Lakes Basin. This is is us looking pretty fresh at the start of the day...














 The hike up to the pass was a good one! We made it to the top and ate a snack :)

 The view into 4 Lakes Basin - absolutely breath-taking!






 This is the view from the bottom of the other side of the pass...the picture doesn't do the grandiose mountain justice! 


 

We stopped for lunch a little ways after coming down off the pass. It was so tasty! Then we continued onto the trail...



Our final destination for the day-so pretty! 

Hunchback of the Uintas



Lucky for us, because we went down the other side of the pass, that meant we had to come right back up it on the way back! It was a pretty tough ascent. Luckily we didn't have our big packs with us today! As we were summiting, it was pouring rain. It was the type of pouring rain that you wonder why you're even wearing a poncho. :) It's so interesting how fast the weather can change up there. Once everyone got back to the top of the pass, the pour turned to a drizzle....
Triumph!


 We made it back to the campsite and relaxed for the rest of the night...

Sunday we woke, ate, packed up, and headed out. This was the lake before we left. Gorgeous!!!


 One last shot before heading back...

We made it back most of the way without it raining on us. The last mile and a half or so, it decided to rain pretty hard on us. 


 By the time we got back to the truck, it had stopped raining. 

 We put all our packs in the truck and headed to Park City for some eats! We stopped at a delicious pizza place! It was so tasty! It was tasty anyway, I'm sure, but food always tastes that much better when you've been hiking.
We were headed down Parley's Canyon when Angie's truck stalled. It was bad news. Nothing like another adventure to add to the one we just had! We hung out on the side of the road and waited for the tow truck and our ride to get there. 'Twas a party! Angie ended up having to replace the engine. :(
I am so glad I was able to go! It was an amazing experience with awesome people! 



Sunday, July 21, 2013

E Family Reunion

You know those jokes when people talk about how they loathe going to family reunions? I'm just the opposite! I get so excited to see everyone and spend time with them! We have such a fun family! The night before our family reunion was set to begin, we went with 2 of my brothers' families to the duck pond to celebrate E's birthday!




 The birthday girl!

The kids had a ton of fun feeding the ducks! 





On Friday, the reunion began! This year, we headed up to North Fork campground to do some camping and horse riding! It's been quite the dry year, so they encouraged us not to use too much water while we were there. That didn't stop us from having a lot of fun!



Holly is always prepared with the crafts...











 Our family flag my mom made last year...
















 My favorite photo of the day! 



We had cheesy potatoes, BBQ chicken, and rolls for dinner (mmmmm). Then we played games and hung out.






There was plenty of candy-eating going on (it's an E-family must!)...





 After some game playing, we went around and told about our favorite thing about the past year...We also allowed for some family skits! 

The babies got along really well...

...and the kids found this shield in the woods!

We enjoyed some delicious cobbler! Then we roasted the mallows and had some s'mores...

E's first s'more!


The electronics crowd...

We slept as good as expected while we were camping and woke up to this...
 Me, my sister, and my brother all got up early and went for a little trail jog. It was fantastic! We even saw a moose! When we got back in camp, everyone was still sawing logs...

We had breakfast burritos and muffins. They were tasty!







 After breakfast, we engaged in a riveting tug-of-war...

 The battle of the brothers...

Gummy bear mouth-catching...











Pulling the sleeper...

The kids were able to enjoy one last horse ride with grandpa...




 After we packed up camp, we headed back to G&G E's house for some water fun, bubbles, snacks, and sno-cones.  This is one of my most favorite pictures ever!































Everyone got cleaned up from the water games and we headed inside for the cousin gift exchange. We decided it's cooler to do it in the summer than the winter :)



We then ate a hamburger dinner...

Classic dad picture - he never sits still for a photo! Ha ha!



We also had the pleasure of attending S' baptism! Congrats, S! It was great to have everyone there! 



This dude just looked so handsome that I had to take a few shots of him...





 The post-baptism celebrations were complete with delicious cupcakes! 

Overall, it was a fantastic weekend! I'm so grateful to have been able to spend time with all of my siblings and their families! It was so much fun!